One of the most widespread diseases affecting humans nowadays are vasculopathies of the brain, heart, and other organs. It is surgical treatment that is the most efficacious way of remedying the vascular diseases. Apart from adequately effective surgical techniques such treatment methods incorporate some negative aspects, e.g., high degree of traumatism, especially in cases of cerebrovascular surgery, and severe postoperative complications. Radiological surgery that has gained progress recently is featured by a lower degree of traumatism, a lesser amount of postoperative complications and makes it possible to carry out operative management of vasculopathies in such areas that are amenable neither to conventional vascular surgery nor to microsurgery of blood vessels. Especially hardly amenable to treatment by virtue of radiological surgery are extensive and giant aneurysms, false aneurysms as well as wide-neck aneurysms. At present treatment of the aforesaid aneurysms by the radiological surgery techniques boils down to stationary occlusion of blood vessels carrying the aneurysm. As a rule, such surgical procedures involve gross postoperative complications resulting from ischemia of large tissue areas, especially those of the brain.
Imperfection of the current radiological-surgery instruments impedes successful solution of one of the major problems one now faces in the field of treatment of vasculopathies.
Further progress of radiological surgery has called for the provision of basically novel occluding devices for performing the surgical procedures mentioned above.
One state-of-the-art occluding device (cf. GB 2,045,62l, A) is known to comprise a detachable inflatable balloon intercommunicating with the catheter through an adapter coupling. The balloon is detached from the catheter by burning out the coupling, using an electric heating coil connected to a current source through wire conductors, which are passed inside the catheter, while the heating coil is insulated from the surrounding atmosphere through an additional dielectric sleeve. Such a construction arrangement of the balloon-catheter unit provides for more reliable detachment of the balloon from the catheter but renders it rigid, which prevents the construction from penetrating into the aneurysmal sac or chamber and the efferent vessels. Operative procedures with the use of balloon-catheters of the given type are aimed at stationary occlusion of the afferent vessels and the aneurysm-carrying vessels. This results in a drastic change of the circulation in a given region and in the development of some ischemia-affected areas.
The aforementioned events are extremely undesirable, especially in cases of radiological surgery on cerebral vessels.
The device mentioned above makes it possible in some cases to penetrate into the chambers of extensive and giant aneurysms and wide-neck aneurysms. However, one balloon is insufficient for such aneurysms to cut out of the blood flow, whereas introduction of many such balloons does not provide their interconnection, and their migration within the aneurysmal sac due to the blood flow results in their being expelled from the aneurysms and in occlusion of the vitally important vessels.
One more prior-art balloon-catheter is known to comprise separate balloons and communicating ducts or passages (cf. DE 3,048,923 C.sub.2). The device incorporates two balloons, one of them being a positioning balloon, i.e., that aimed at holding the device in a required place, while the other balloon is the occluding one. Upon having been inflated both of the balloons acquire the same shape of various configuration. Separate passages are for separate injection of a contrast medium and the components of a quick-setting polymer. The device under consideration makes it possible to set the polymerization time of a quick-setting polymer due to the provision of independent passages (catheters) for filling the interior of a balloon, thus enabling one to separately feed the components of quick-setting polymer to the balloon in a required ratio thereof. The balloon-catheter, having such a construction arrangement is adapted for closure of the interventricular and atrial septal defects and has therefore but a restricted application due to its narrow-specified purpose.
There is in common use currently the Debrun's balloon-catheter (cf. FR, A, 2,383,673). The device is essentially a detachable inflatable balloon provided with a radiopaque marker which is made as a metallic clip located in a thickened ballon portion arranged opposite to the sphincter thereof. The sphincter of the balloon is curved inwards into the interior of the balloon and of the catheter placed on the balloon outer wall. Upon cutting the vessel (aneurysm) out of circulation the balloon is distended by being filled with a quick-setting polymer, while the catheter is removed and the balloon sphincter is turned inside out. To remove (detach) the balloon from the catheter, use is made of a movable larger-diameter catheter placed on the working (main) catheter. The catheters are moved in the opposite directions, viz, the main catheter is withdrawn, while the accessory catheter is moved towards the balloon, thus helping to remove the balloon from the working catheter, whereupon both of the catheters are taken out of the vessel. The Debrun's balloon-catheter features a rigid construction, thereby not providing penetration of the balloon into the efferent vessels and sacs of an aneurysm, which restricts practical application of the device. Moreover, surgical procedures carried out with the aid of the Debrun's balloon-catheter are as a rule aimed at stationary occlusion of the afferent vessels carrying aneurysms, which affects badly the blood supply and involves post-operative morbid events. Even in cases of successful attempts to put the Debrun's balloon-catheter into the chamber of extensive and giant aneurysms and wide-neck aneurysms, as many as ten ballons are necessary to be brought into the aneurysmal sac for the aneurysm to be cut out of circulation. However, such a great number of the balloons fail to be retained in the aneurysmal sac and get expelled therefrom by virtue of the blood flow. Thus, vascular aneurysms cut out of blood flow develop recurrent bleeding in many a case.